Aaryan Sinha Wins 2026 Aperture Portfolio Prize

Aaryan Sinha, a 2023 graduate of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, has been named winner of the 2026 Aperture Portfolio Prize. His series 'Namaste or Whatever' confronts colonial stereotypes of India through lush, self-critical photography. The title originated from a real encounter where a friend's mother said 'Namaste, or whatever' to Sinha. As the only Indian student in his class, Sinha grappled with seeing India through a Western gaze. After a critique by Magnum photographer Rafal Milach, Sinha abandoned clichéd images of poverty. His ongoing project 'This Isn't Divide and Conquer' (2022) documents states bordering Pakistan and Kashmir without showing subjects' faces. 'Namaste or Whatever' deliberately embraces clichés like snake charmers and cremations, but with unexpected compositions. Sinha's work will appear in Aperture No. 263, Summer 2026.